Logan County agency leaders developing rabies response protocol

Group debates message, response, cleanup

The rabies virus has, without a doubt, spread into northeast Colorado, according to the Northeast Colorado Health Department. And there needs to be a plan in place to deal with it.

That's why a handful of NCHD representatives met with many of Logan County's public leaders for a two-hour roundtable Thursday afternoon.

NCHD made their first of what will be six stops in surrounding counties to preliminarily discuss what the rabies virus is, how to inform the public and how to handle infected or potentially infected animals.

Rabies, a nearly 100 percent lethal virus, infects the nervous system of wild and domestic animals through spit, brain or spinal fluid transfer. It causes the brain to swell and kills those infected within 10 days of seeing symptoms.

And with a long, varied time before symptoms show – from three to eight weeks to years – plus no chance of treating the virus once they finally appear, NCHD has reason to make sure the counties know how to handle the threat.

“We've been seeing rabies move east towards about the I-25 corridor since 2007,” said Tony Cappello, public health director at NCHD, saying that it's mostly kept itself in rural areas until the most recent outbreaks around Sterling this year. “This is a very new situation … The fact that we're seeing the skunks in a highly populated area, comingling with pets, it increases the human exposure risk.

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Cappello said that the number of people who die of rabies in the U.S. is relatively low, but most of the cases have been in areas where people have dealt with the issue for years.Early vaccines, costs and quarantines

One of the roundtable's biggest talking points centered on getting people to get vaccines – for themselves, but mostly for animals – and to keep them up to date.

Dr. William Fredregill, a Sterling veterinarian, said one of the big concerns he had with rabies issue in the area is the price of post-exposure prophylaxis treatment, which can cost about $10,000 for one person.

One of the reasons for the price is that the vaccine itself is expensive to make, but it also has a short shelf life. Plus, Cappello said, health insurance policies either don't cover post-exposure care or cover only parts of it.

He said people have to get it, by statute, if they've been exposed, and that cost gets sent to taxpayers if the person can't pay.

The alternative, which Fredregill and Cappello worried about, was that people wouldn't seek treatment if they knew the costs.

Pets carry an even bigger cost problem, especially if more than one is exposed to a rabies-carrying animal.

If a wild animal known to carry rabies – such as a skunk, raccoon, bat or feral cat – attacks an animal and can't be found, the vet has to assume it was exposed to rabies and quarantine the unvaccinated animal for 180 days. The first 90 days must be spent at an approved facility, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, even if pet owners are offered the regular boarding rate.

Cappello said the area doesn't have enough vets who can keep animals at a secure facility, and vets also go against the state recommendation to euthanize the animal any time this situation arises.

“Almost, this quarantine doesn't work at this point,” he said. “We're going against (recommendations) for the good of the people. But if they don't pay, it's up to the taxpayers to foot the bill, and that's just not fair.”

But if an animal has had its vaccine updated, the quarantine period is only 45 days, served at home.

The problem, according to Logan County Humane Society Director Dan Jones, is that less than 15 percent of cats get vaccinated.

“People just refuse to vaccinate their cats,” he said.

Others run into problems when they vaccinate their pets using vaccines they purchased. Trish McClain, director of client health services at NCHD, said she ran into one family raising dogs in Morgan County who vaccinated their own dogs but weren't protected after a run-in with another animal.

It's legal to sell vaccines through veterinarian supply stores, she said. But they're not recognized as valid vaccines unless a licensed vet gives them, since the vaccines need to be stored and administered properly.Getting word out

McClain said a big part of their public message focus in the past year has been on getting pet owners to have vets administer the vaccines.

But she said NCHD has used every means of informing the public available – from press releases, to posters, leaflets and social media.

“Every time we sit down when a new case comes out and multiple pets aren't vaccinated, we wrack our brains,” McClain said. “Unfortunately it's falling on deaf ears a lot of the time.”

Others said they've also used different means of getting information out; clinics in Morgan County have vaccinated 600 animals in two months, for as low as $5.

But until the public becomes aware of the laws, the group said they were worried more families would become upset (or hostile) when their unvaccinated animal has to be euthanized.

Cappello said not informing NCHD when people or their pets have been exposed to rabies is technically a misdemeanor as well, but he doesn't want to resort to that.

“We don't want it to come to that point, that we're going to have to have a human death to get people's attention,” McClain said.

It's also written into northeast Colorado statutes that people are required to get their dogs, cats and ferrets vaccinated .

But Logan County Commissioner Dave Donaldson suggested that the NCHD and other departments do a better job of getting the word out about the laws.

“As close to the flagpole as I am, and the fact that I'm unaware, what's the expectation on anybody else?”

Sterling Police Department Chief Roy Breivik suggested that some of that lack of awareness – and the lack of urgency to comply with vaccination requirements – hasn't been apparent until recently.

Cappello recommended using a media blitz and word-of-mouth to get the word out faster. Allan Pierce, undersheriff for the Logan County Sheriff's Office, also suggested having a greater presence in schools to educate students.

“Nothing spreads faster than through the kids,” he said.

The hard part, they agreed, was getting a serious message out without creating hysteria.

What to do with rabid animals

The group also set rough guidelines on how to react when someone in their department finds what they think is a rabid animal.

Cappello said the NCHD keeps records on all rabid animal encounters in the region, regardless of whether a person or animal was affected.

He said they want a report in either situation just in case “something does pop up.”

But if someone wants to send in a wild animal to test, they have to find a vet to cut off its head (unless it's a bat).

Fredregill said people can then dispose of the bodies at the Logan County Landfill, as long as they give them prior notice.

As for which agency takes rabid animal calls, the group decided to split: The Colorado Parks and Wildlife division would receive the call from dispatch if the suspected rabid animal is wild, regardless of location; the LCHS and Sterling Police would receive the call for domestic animals (including feral cats) inside city limits; and the sheriff's office would also take the call for animals outside of Sterling city limits.

Breivik said he was wary of taking domestic animal calls, saying his officers didn't have the right weapons to shoot potentially rabid animals.

“It's unfair to think an officer can shoot a skunk that's moving … drunkenly,” he said, adding that they use handguns when those targets would require rifles. “We're taking a potential risk with people in the background that frankly I'm a little concerned about.”

Mason Allen, district wildlife manager with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said he tends to use .22 rifles with hollow-point rounds for those calls.

Breivik said they'd have to buy a rifle, but he'd be willing to look at that.

Emergency Manager Bob Owens, picking up on an earlier suggestion, said he'd like to eventually see responders get together to develop a team to deal with these situations.

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